My car wouldn't start this morning. It's absolutely freezing (okay, it's bitterly cold, but not the coldest day ever) and I didn't get Carter or Baby dressed appropriately for taking the 2 boys up to the bus stop. I expected to take the car, have the heater on, etc., etc. Not so, I had to throw a barely dressed baby into the stroller, Carter with no shoes on, no coat, into the stroller and grabbed 2 blankets, to cover them and run up to the bus. We got there and all was well, I got my 2 little ones home and into the warm house, got them settled and headed out to get my car started. This exact thing happened about a month ago, in fact, it was January 21. Today is February 28. Yes, it was about one month ago. Is it too cold? I thought so a month ago. I got it started and no problems until now. Today is not as cold and it didn't start... so now I'm wondering what it could be? It sounds like it wants to start, it almost starts, it just doesn't start. Even when I jumped it, it had a hard time starting, which never happens. So, it's outside running right now, getting warmed up, charging the battery, wasting really expensive gas. What does that have to do with climbing? I came in and found Baby standing on a chair. Hummm...

The neighbor boy, also named Spencer, came over to play before school this morning... He is a very pleasant and social kid. He tends to talk a lot, sharing a lot of information about his life, some of it very personal, but most just really funny. I will call them Spencer (neighbor) and Spence (my son)...

(I set the timer for 10 minutes so they would switch activities - one wanted to play one thing and the other wanted to play something else)

(this is only a breath away from his last thought, literally, this was his next sentence)

Spencer: Is your baby wearing a diaper? I like your baby, she's really cute. It hurts to have a baby. You have to say, ahh, ohhh, ouch... (the grunting and straining continue for several seconds, then he stopped). Yeah, it really hurts. I don't ever want to be a girl and have a baby.

Yes, it's always fun to have the kids around. I love their conversations!! I too measure time in how long it takes to cook a pizza. Funny that my son didn't want the 1o minutes to go quickly, so he says we have a slow timer. Funny that a 6 1/2 year old boy reinacted having a baby in my family room. Very fun, indeed. :)

Monday, February 25, 2008

The baby got ahold of my wallet and pulled a lot of my cards out. Spencer saw and decided to help me. Here was our conversation:S: Oh, I'll put your cards away.Me: Thank you, buddy. I don't want to lose any of my cards.S: Baby made such a big mess... I don't see your driver's liscence.Me: Here, it was in my pocket. Will you put it away for me?S (takes a look at the card): Does it say, "good guy" on here?Me: Yes.S: Good because if the police pull you over they need to see if your card says "good guy" or "bad guy" on it, so they will know who [what] you are.

I do sometimes wish it were that easy to know who the bad guys are out there in the world. I wish they would all have identification that just says good or bad. I love the mind of a child!

Dave and the boys were in the family room playing the Wii (I know, sounds like we do that a lot... maybe or maybe not, but we just don't get fun stories from anything else...). Spencer messed up on something and said, "I am such a loser!" (I would wonder where he gets those kinds of phrases, but I know exactly where he heard it - starts with D, rhymes with wave.) Dave immediately spoke up without missing a beat, saying something that I never imagined I would ever hear...

"You're not a loser. You can't be a loser. Your dad is not a loser and your mom is not a loser, therefore, it is genetically impossible for you to be a loser."

Spencer accepted this explanation and moved on. I sat there and marveled at my husband's logic. I do wonder if "loser-ness" is dominant or recessive. If it's recessive, then two non-losers could make a loser, if they both carry the gene... hmmm...

Friday, February 22, 2008

I'm blogging today because I can. I have my children working hard so I can play, play, play... Just kidding. It's a "snow day" with no snow, just ice, again. No school, which is bad. Anyway, I wanted to put my kids to work, so I had them clean up. Both boys like to spray things and work with chemicals and do not like to do the picking up part of cleaning, so usually, we have a problem. They are young and I don't want them getting the chemicals all over them. Today, I had both of them tell me, seperately that they wanted to clean the floor, and in Spencer's words, "use the strong stuff." The floor needed to be cleaned so I found a way for them to do it! I found some gloves, and put the boys to work, they had a blast! Sorry about the lack of clothing, that's just normal for the kids in our house...

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Last night, after the boys went to bed, I decided to get a work out playing the Wii (and yes, it really is a work out, especially the boxing). I warmed up with some baseball, did some tennis, boxed, and then cooled down with some golf. The whole time I kept my feet moving so I could get more of an aerobic workout. I have a goal to do this at least 3 times a week. This morning, Spencer says, "We heard you playing the Wii after we went to bed, we could hear, it was Wii Sports." I replied simply, "Yes, I was trying to get some exercise."

Friday, February 15, 2008

He had a friend over this afternoon, but he also had some housework to do. I asked him to pick up the toys in the family room, but true to form, that's not what he wanted to do to help. He got out a dust rag and said he needed to dust something. He decided that the mantel above the fireplace was a great place to start. He can't reach up there, so he pulled a small end table over to stand on (it was pretty heavy, but he was able to drag it the 3 feet to where he needed it.) His friend said, "I don't think you should stand on that, you might fall." Spencer turned around and said, "Don't worry, I'm trained for this."

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Me: Spence, I have a job for you. I need you to go do a load of laundry. Put just the whites into the washing machine, you don't have to do the soap today or start the water, I'll do that part. (normally he does everything, but he has a friend over this morning and I didn't want to be too mean by taking him away during play time, but he did need to do the job)-Spencer went around the corner to the laundry room, I could hear him in there, I decided to go make sure he didn't put any bright red things in, because there were a few in the laundry room and because he was in a hurry to play, I thought he might just start throwing things in. I came around the corner and he wasn't in the laundry room, he was near the stairs/front door and looked shocked to see me.-Me: Why didn't you put the clothes in the washing machine? You didn't even start yet...Spencer: I, um... hummm. I see there is a screw sitting here on the stairs, I wonder who took it out. I should probably put it back so it doesn't get lost.-He picked up a screw and a screwdriver from the stairs and walked over to the front door. He proceeded to put the screw back into the door knob. As a side note, I had just spent considerable time on the stairs with a child in time out and know for a fact that the screw and screwdriver were not there a minute ago. Also, if you see a screw on the stairs, do you immediately assume that it belongs to the front door? No, only the one that took the screw out, would know that. Hmm...-Me: Spencer when you get done putting that back, come and put the clothes in. Why did you take the screw out of the door?Spencer: What did you say?Me: Why did you take the screw out?Spencer: You think I did it?Me: I know you did it.Spencer: Oh, you saw me.Me: No, Mommys just know when you do things...Spencer: Oh, sorry, I'll put it back and not take it out again.Me: Okay, then come and get the laundry started.Spencer: Okay, I'm done, here's Daddy's screwdriver... don't tell him I used it!

He put the screw back tightly, he sorted the laundry and put the whites in, he then remembered he had a friend over and decided to join the playing already in progress in the other room. I didn't get angry, because of all the things he normally does, this wasn't that bad. He had gone into the laundry room, as instructed, but saw the screwdriver on the dryer. I don't know where he got the idea to remove the doorknob from the front door.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

No snow today, just ice, everywhere... It is beautiful, but too dangerous for the kids to go to play. So, here we are stuck inside. Spencer looked out and was wondering about the sky turning a little red, he wanted to know if we were in danger of a tormado striking. He is confident that a hurdacane will never hit us full on because we live too far from the coast line. I assured him that it was not likely that we would have a Tormado and he shouldn't worry. Baby has had a particularly hard day with both boys home, and only one parent to protect. She has gotten hurt several times, but it is mostly because she wants to play with them and she is too small to do so. She is fine but I sent her up to her bed for a nap, just in case. I hope she sleeps for a really long time, for her sake.

I got out my camera to take some pictures of the ice, I love how each branch is completely encased in ice. When I got the camera, I found that Spencer had been taking pictures, I have included some of my favorites, they are truly works of art...

Here is what else was on the camera:

Spencer's B-day

Baby's first bath with the big kids

Snack break at the Washington Auto Show & Carter falling asleep while playing the Wii

Monday, February 11, 2008

After waiting for what seemed like forever... Baby finally got her second tooth in the middle on the bottom, right next to the other one. It broke through yesterday sometime, because I felt it on Saturday night and it wasn't there and then on Sunday night, it was there, so, yeah!! Finally.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

At church last week, we were talking about how there is an index in the back of the scriptures called, "The Topical Guide." You can use this to look up specific topics and find out which scriptures cover that particular topic. I told my friend that when I was younger (about 8 years old) I heard the term for the first time. I could not figure out why we would need a Tropical Guide to read the scriptures. Perhaps because the scriptures talk about a "promised land" and that has to be Tropical for sure, right?I also spoke to my friends of hymns that we don't always understand... When my dad was little, his mom used to tell him not to eat too many cherries, because they would give him a stomach ache. Then he went to church and heard the song that says, "Cherries hurt you, cherries hurt you..." (Cherish virtue, cherish virtue...) Growing up, we always wondered about the song that starts "High on a mountain top, a badger killed a squirrel, ye nations all look up, they wave to all the world" (High on a mountain top, a banner is unfurled, ye nations all look up, it waves to all the world).I love listening to my boys play. Yesterday, my husband made a sound that sound a lot like Chewbacca from Star Wars. Spencer heard him and yelled, "oh, no, it's Chewy Box! Run!!"Carter loves the movie "Cars." He recently started to like Star Wars as well. He says, "Mommy, look! It's Darth Mater." (apparently he's not the only one that has said this, I googled it and got tons of parents saying their kids say the same thing, here's something funny on it: http://mockazine.typepad.com/mockazine/2008/01/darth-mater.html ) One day, we had one of Spencer's friends over and Carter said something about Darth Mater and the other boy said, "It's NOT Darth Mater, it's DARK Vader." So, some people get somethings right, other people get other things right.

UPDATE: I forgot about the one they both say, over and over and over... One will say it and then they both laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh, like it's the funniest thing they have ever said. It comes from Toy Story 2... Mrs. Potato Head is packing her husband's facial features in his hind quarters and says, "and I'm packing your 'angry eyes' just in case." Later, they are in a situation and Mr. Potato Head says, "Get ready for Mr. Angry Eyes..." Well my kids laugh and say, "Get ready for mystery eyes..." seriously, one will say "mystery eyes" and they both fall on the floor laughing... I guess I don't get it...

Monday, February 4, 2008

It is amazing to me that so many things in this world happen "all by themselves." I remember being a child and when something bad happens, the immediate answer was always, "I didn't do it, it wasn't me, it must have been someone else." Mysterious as it all is (the drawings on the wall, stains on the carpet, toys in the toilet) I have not yet begun to suspect aliens, fairies, elves, trolls, or big foot. I am confident that most of the time, I can find out who did it. There are 2 occasions I want to share with you, the most recent first. It all started with the Wii. Wiis can connect to the internet and if you have Wii points, you can trade them in for new games. How do you get Wii points? You buy them. We had decided to download a couple new games and so we had some Wii points. Yesterday, in the afternoon, the boys were playing the Wii, but soon they tired and both fell asleep. Dave came into the room (I was upstairs taking a nap) and decided to turn off the Wii, since no one was using it. As he got to the main menu, he noticed a new game, one neither one of us had purchased and all of our Wii points gone (500 of them, equal to $5). He told me about it when I came downstairs and we were really getting frustrated and angry with our sleeping 6 year old, because he had spent our money!! He was the first to wake up and immediately, we started to question him, the response, "It wasn't me, I was sleeping. Carter did it, I saw him playing the new game." Our response to him, "You are lying. How did you see him playing the new game if you were sleeping?" We thought, Now we've got him, he's caught. Of course Carter didn't do it, he's only 3 1/2, Spencer is 6. It had to be the 6 year old, 3 year olds can't do stuff like that. Spencer remained firm in his defense of "I didn't do it, it wasn't me." A little while later, Carter woke up and out of curiosity, I asked him about it. I said, "We found a new game on the Wii, do you know where it came from." I wasn't surprised when I heard, "Spencer did it." Immediately, my husband turns to Spencer and says, "See, I knew you did it!" What Dave didn't see, was Carter's face. Our innocent 3 year old had a look, a look that said it all. I turned to Dave and said, "wait, look at Carter's face and ask him again." Dave, a little shocked, said, "Carter, did you buy a new game?" Carter couldn't stop smiling and finally said, "Yes, I did it, I wanted a new game so I got it." Moral of the story, 3 year olds are theives, liars, and are quick to frame others. No one would suspect a 3 year old. Innocent no more at 3. I thought it would take longer, boy was I wrong. Just so you know, there were appologies issued to Spencer and Carter was immediately taken into custody, a speedy trial was held and he was sentenced to a long lecture about spending other people's money and he is NEVER allowed to play the game he bought. Now that I showed you that my 3 year old is far from innocent, I will tell you the 2nd situation, which technically came first, but I wanted to save the best for last. I tell you that it is the best example of Not Me being in my house that I have ever heard. It's amazing how that guy gets around, even right in front of your face. Carter had been doing something and had really dirty fingers. He wanted to play the Wii (yes, I know, it's a Wii story again) and I said to him, "You can't touch the Wii remote if you have stuff on your fingers, you have to go wash your hands." Carter looked at me and without missing a beat, held up his dirty hand and said, "These aren't MY fingers." Oh, well, okay, as long as they aren't your fingers...

Don't suck on your feet. Don't play with garbage....and many other things I say daily that I never thought I would ever say!

phrases that have actually come out of my mouth:

*Don't play with garbage. Stop! You can't eat it either!*If we get a pet we will have to get rid of the kids, do you want to live outside in box far away from our house with no Mommy and Daddy?*We don't eat dirty diapers! Here, play with this clean one...*Yes, that queen ant is really cool, now we have to kill her.*Candy is not for breakfast. Have a marshmallow instead.*Don't eat anymore playdough, it's time for dinner.*No, you can't call Funniest Home Videos or call to set up your own 529 Savings Plan, you're only 6, you have to be 18.*Did you just throw a brain at me? Go to time out, we don't throw brains.*No, we don't eat snow that has come off of the bottom of people's shoes.*We don't eat pieces of the Christmas Tree.

*Don't ride your cousin.

*You shouldn't stick your head in the toilet just because someone dares you.

*Please don't lick your sister. Stop! I said not to lick your sister!!

*French Fries are made from potatoes so they count as our vegetable tonight.